Blind Game Again
by Lamia of the Dark
Summary: Without knowing the exact purpose of what she is doing, having only been told that this is the way to save her master, Bellatrix is sent back in time to adopt and raise Tom Riddle. NOW COMPLETE.
1. Glaring Dream

**DISCLAIMER: All things Harry Potter belong to J.K. Rowling.**

**A/N: Yes, I am starting another fic again. I can't help it, it's another one of those ideas that just bashed me over the head and demanded to be written.**

-- Blind Game Again --

The Lestranges' trial had just ended when suddenly the world went fuzzy and Bellatrix found herself standing alone in a room full of unmoving, time-frozen people.

Thin fingers closed over her wrist. She turned and found herself staring into Dumbledore's eyes, which were - for once - not twinkling but burning with intensity.

"Do you want to save your master, Bellatrix?" he asked, his voice grave.

She nodded dumbly, not trusting herself to speak. Why would the old fool be offering to help her, to help the Dark Lord...?

"Listen carefully. I am going to send you somehwere. I've set up an alias for you." He pushed something into her hands, a set of keys by the feel of it. "Everything you need will be provided, including a secure bank account. While you're there, you will need to burn your Death Eater robes and keep your Mark hidden at all times. Once you've gotten settled in, you will go to the local orphanage and adopt and raise a child called Tom Riddle..."

She didn't understand how this would save her master, but she would do anything - ANYTHING - to help the Dark Lord.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes," she answered.

"And you are willing to do as I've said?"

Again, "Yes."

"Very well then. I just need a drop of your blood on this paper..."

"I have to sign a contract in blood?" she asked incredulously.

"No, my dear," he answered, smiling indulgently. "Without your blood, the shikikami isn't enough to fool the dementors. But with the, ah, _flavor_ of your aura about it, they will not realize that it isn't you... at least until the spell wears off and it reverts to a paper doll. It will be years before that happens, though, and by that time it will be too late for them to track the path of the spell that sends you... where you need to go. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Alright, then, just a drop of your blood here... Good."

What had been a simple piece of white paper cut in the shape of a person moments before now looked like it could be Bellatrix's identical twin. It grinned at her - her own leering, sadistic grin - and she jumped away from it, startled.

_"They will not realize it isn't you", indeed._ The thought was tinged with sarcasm.

"And-"

Time started again.

-tbc-

**A/N: Reviews are love.**

**+braces self to answer the question "What's a shikikami?" fifty million times+ (75 pts if you already know.)**


	2. Spicy Marmalade

**A/N: I was surprised by the amount of reviews chapter 1 got!**

- Blind Game Again -

False identification (wizarding AND muggle) had been provided for Bellatrix - as Dumbledore had promised - along with a small house, and secure bank accounts which contained modest sums of money. The house was fully furnished and stocked with all the things she would need in order to care for a small child.

There was also a letter with further instructions. Apparently, raising a child could get quite expensive and she would need to get a job. Preferably a muggle one, because it would be easier to keep her cover that way. She had enough money to keep her going for a few years, until the time that little Tom would enter elementary school. Furthermore, she was not, under any circumstances, to get married (even though she was technically capable of doing so since _her alias_ was not legally married to Rodolphus Lestrange). She was also forbidden from trying to contact her family.

And he'd even been considerate enough to give her a name that she could still conceivably use "Bella" as a nickname for. Although...

_Belsaria Drackengard? I'm really supposed to walk around with a name like that?_

Yes, she was. Because she didn't have a choice. She couldn't go around using her real name.

She changed into clothes she found hanging in the bedroom closet. (The little house only had two bedrooms - one for her and one for the child.) Then she burned her Death Eater robes, as instructed, and also the letter. It wouldn't do any good to have anyone finding that... but mostly she did it because burning the letter helped her vent a little of the frustration she felt towards the meddling old man.

Now all that was left was to go and get the kid.

Feeling like a complete and total idiot, Bellatrix tucked a seafoam-green plush bunny rabbit into her purse and headed to the orphanage to find the child she would be raising.

She had no clue how to go about accomplishing this task so, deciding the direct method was best, she simply went to the orphanage's director and said, "I'm looking for a child called Tom Riddle."

And before Mrs. Cole could answer, a tiny voice bleated, "I Tom Riddle!"

There, seated in a playpen next to Mrs. Cole's desk, was a two-year-old baby boy. The child was wearing clothing that was clearly secondhand and his only toy was a stuffed animal that was so ragged, Bellatrix couldn't even tell what kind of animal it was supposed to be.

"Are you a relative?" Mrs. Cole asked. She'd expected some to turn up, after the care the mother had taken to give the boy names that could be recognized by someone from either side of the family.

"Yes," Bellatrix replied, sensing that this would be the correct answer to get the child transferred into her care.

"The Gaunt girl's or Tom Riddle Senior's?" Cole prodded.

_Nosy old bat_. "Riddle's. We're cousins."

"I Tom Riddle!" the child piped up again.

"I know, honey," Bellatrix said in what she hoped was a sweet voice, as she knelt next to the playpen. She fished the green rabbit out of her purse and offered it to the child. "I brought this for you."

He seemed hesitant to accept it.

"I can has bun-nee?" the child asked shyly.

Bellatrix could feel herself melting inside.

_Oh, God, he's adorable. He's **much** cuter than Draco_... Of course, Draco was a spoiled little brat. And at only a year old, her nephew wasn't saying very many words yet.

"Yes, you can have it. It's for you," she answered.

The child stared at her in wonder as he took the toy. He'd never played with something _new_ before. It was soft, not stiff and scratchy like the crusty old mouse - or was it a lamb? - laying forgotten in the corner of the playpen.

"I Tom Riddle and _I has bun-nee_!" the child informed Bellatrix excitedly, hugging his new toy. "Who you?"

She had to stop and think before answering. "My name is Belsaria Drackengard."

"Bessa?"

Of course that name was too hard for a two-year-old to pronounce. _Curse_ Dumbledore! He could have at least tried to make this a little easier for her.

She smiled at little Tom.

"Can you say 'Bella'?"

"Bewa?"

"_Bellllllllla_." She dragged out the L sound, emphasizing it. He pronounced the L in his own name just fine...

His little face puckered into an expression on intense concentration as the child tried once more, but what he said this time came out sounding more like "Behra."

She sighed.

"Close enough."

"Behra!" He held out the hand that wasn't clutching the bunny rabbit and made a grasping gesture that Bellatrix recognized as meaning _pick-me-up_.

She scooped the child into her arms and cradled him against her chest. The little boy snuggled agaisnt her shoulder, wrapping one hand into her long dark hair. He wasn't used to having someone pay so much attention to him. He wasn't used to someone actually being _nice_ to him, instead of irritated or indifferent. And he liked it.

When she tried to put him down, he fussed and clung to her.

"_Behra_," he whined.

She stopped trying to put him down and immediately he calmed himself. He really was too cute.

"Looks like he's gotten attached to you already," Mrs. Cole said, smiling. She was happy to be getting rid of the strange child. He'd already begun showing signs of magic. Not that she was going to mention that to the woman... She wouldn't want to say anything that might her think twice about taking the boy.

-tbc-

**Reviews: love.**


	3. Smashing Blue

- Blind Game Again -

Tom Riddle Senior wasn't expecting visitors, so he was surprised when the doorbell rang. He got an even bigger surprise when he answered the door and found a stunningly beautiful young woman standing there with a small child in her arms. The child bore a striking resemblance to Tom himself, but the woman wasn't one he recognized. His eyes raked over her form appraisingly. No, he definitely would have remembered someone _this_ beautiful.

"Can I help you?" he asked with a charming smile.

"I'm looking for Tom Riddle," the woman stated bluntly, her dark eyes flashing.

And before the man had a chance to answer, the child in her arms murmured drowsily, "I Tom Riddle."

"Hush, baby," Bella shushed him, cuddling the child closer against her chest. Returning her attention to the elder Riddle, she explained, "He's named after his father."

Riddle sighed and stepped back from the doorway.

"I think you'd better come inside."

Bellatrix followed him inside. He led her to a small parlor. Riddle sat in one of the room's two chairs, and bade her to take the seat across from him.

"Or remain standing, if you wish," he added, seeing that she didn't take kindly to being ordered about. And he flashed her his most charming smile.

Bella was starting to get quite irritated with the man. He very obviously thought himself much more handsome and charming than he actually was. But this would only be harder on her if she chose to fight him over every little thing.

She sat, and settled baby Tom in her lap.

"Now, about Tom Riddle?" she inquired impatiently.

Baby Tom obligingly stayed quiet this time. He was rather perceptive for a child his age and, having quickly figured out that he enjoyed positive attention, he endeavored to do only things which would make Bella pleased with him.

"You're looking at him," Tom Senior replied smoothly. "Now, tell me, Miss...?"

"Belsaria Drackengard," she filled in. She hated introducing herself this way, but no one ever questioned the name.

"Miss Drackengard," Riddle continued, "Tell me, whose child is that? Surely you aren't the mother. I am certain I would have remembered you..." He trailed off, looking at her curiously.

So, he knew he'd never met her before but had fooled around with so many women he honestly had no clue who the mother could have been? Well, that was a surprise and a half!

"My cousin," she lied, a slight twist on the lie she'd told at the orphanage. "Her name was Merope Riddle, formerly Gaunt."

He blanched at the name, but quickly composed himself.

"So, Merope's dead..." He hadn't missed Bella's use of the past tense. "He seems to take after me, though..."

Bella could sense the question hidden in that statement and knew he wasn't only referring to the boy's looks.

"He's already showing signs of magic," she told him.

Riddle cringed at the mention of magic.

"And you're... one of... them?" he asked awkwardly. "You were planning to keep him, to raise him...?"

Bella didn't get it. She'd brought him his child, the child he hadn't even known he had, yet the man seemed hopeful that _she_ would want to keep the baby. And he seemed to have a rather strong dislike of magic, for a muggle who had been exposed to only a very tiny piece of the magical world as of yet.

Her confusion was written all over her face and, seeing that little Tom had drifted off to sleep in her lap, Tom Senior told Bella the story of how Merope had caught him with a curse that robbed him of his free will and forced him into a marriage he'd never wanted. And when he'd finally broken free of the curse and returned home, he'd had no idea that Merope was pregnant, but he now had a healthy fear of magic.

Well, that certainly explained a few things.

"You'll want to go see his other relatives, then, the Gaunts? There's a shack by the edge of the woods on the outskirts of the village... The father is still in prison, I think, but her brother should be there."

And so Bella lifted baby Tom into her arms again and left in search of the Gaunts' home.

The child was awake again by the time they reached the run-down little shack at the edge of the woods. Bella looked at it with disgust. A family of pureblood wizards lived _here_? She would have though common filth more likely to inhabit such a location. But they must be purebloods, she remembered hearing somewhere that the Gaunt family were descendants of Slytherin...

But she didn't have time to think about what that meant, because just then the door burst open and a man came out. The most filthy disgusting man she had ever seen, holding a bloody knife in one hand.

Morfin Gaunt looked Bellatrix over with a gaze that was much more openly lustful than Riddle's had been, but somehow not _quite_ as creepy. His eyes flicked briefly over the baby in her arms.

And then he spoke.

Bella was startled to hear very familiar sounds issuing from this revolting person's mouth.

And she received an even greater surprise when the child in her arms sat up and answered him in the same manner.

_Parseltongue_.

And suddenly she remembered Dumbledore saying "Do you want to save your master?" and the instructions to keep her Mark covered at all times, and to not try to contact her family under any circumstances.

She hadn't understood then, but she understood now.

She'd been sent back in time.

Tom Riddle Junior WAS the Dark Lord. Or, more accurately, _would become_ the Dark Lord.

Unless she could stop that from happening.

-tbc-

**Reviews: love.**


	4. Shining Collection

-- Blind Game Again --

When Tom was three years old, his father decided that he did want to be a part of his son's life after all, if only a small part. Bellatrix never allowed Tom Senior into her home, but she did take Tom Junior to the Riddle house to visit. Needless to say, they did not keep in touch with the Gaunt side of the family.

When Tom was four years old, purely by coincidence he spotted the Mark peeking out over the edge of Bella's sleeve. When he tried to touch it, she smacked his hand. It was the only time she was ever physically violent with him.

When Tom was five years old, he started kindergarten and Bellatrix began working (against Dumbledore's advice) at a wizarding shop called Borgin and Burke's. She just couldn't bring herself to work in a place where she would have to be surrounded by muggles all day, even if she was endangering her cover by _not_ doing so. The shop's owner hadn't been particularly keen on hiring her, but had been impressed by the lovely young woman's extensive knowledge of Dark objects.

When Tom was eleven years old, he got his Hogwarts letter and on September 1st, Bella took him the train station. Like all boys that age, Tom was embarassed by public displays of parental affection. (Even though he knew Bella wasn't actually his mother, or even a blood relative.) Unlike all the biological parents present throughout the station, Bella saw no reason to publicly humiliate her child by pressing him to give her a goodbye hug. She merely told him that she'd see him again at Christmas and she hoped he had a safe trip.

She noticed that Tom was looking at her oddly - expectantly? - so she said, "What?"

"There's something in your hair," the child replied, frowning.

Bella raked her fingers through her long hair. She didn't _feel_ anything caught in it...

"Is it gone?" she asked.

Tom shook his head and made an impatient gesture. "I'll get it out for you."

She knelt next to him and Tom leaned close, reaching out to remove the offending object-

And, hidden behind the curtain of Bella's hair, he quickly kissed her cheek and whispered, "Love you." He then pulled away from her and said loudly, "There, it's gone now."

But that was only for dramatic effect, because she'd realized that there had never been anything caught in her hair in the first place.

That darn Tom was a tricky one. She wasn't surprised when he ended up being sorted into Slytherin.

When Tom was twelve years old, he was already regarded as the brightest student in his year, and the most popular besides. All the boys wanted to be his friends and all the girls wanted to date him. And he loved every minute of the attention he got.

When Tom was sixteen years old, his guardian mysteriously disappeared and she was never heard from again.


	5. Blind Game Again

-- Blind Game Again --

After graduating from Hogwarts, Tom Riddle searched the entire world for Bella. But he never found her. No one knew where she'd come from or where she'd gone. No trace of her could be found anywhere except for that little house in the village where he'd been raised. The house itself, her car, and even her bank accounts were not in her own name. It was almost as though "Belsaria Drackengard" had never existed in the first place.

And after many years of fruitless searching, Tom was forced to admit that he would never find her again. He almost couldn't bear to go back to that house. It was still too soon. All of the memories... They were mostly happy memories but for some reason the happy ones were the most painful to remember. He had basked in the glow of Bella's love for fourteen long and happy years and then one day she was just _gone_. He was still having a hard time dealing with the loss.

He still had his father and he had plenty of friends who cared about him that he'd stayed in touch with. But he'd quickly discovered that nothing compared, that nothing COULD compare to Bella's love for him. He missed her terribly, more than he would ever have imagined being able to.

He didn't know how to go on with his life.

Soon after Tom's return, Dumbledore came to him and offered him a job at Hogwarts teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. And because Tom was at a loss as to what else to do, he accepted. He wasn't really interested in teaching, but he was an intelligent and capable wizard and he rose to the occasion admirably.

And then, after years of teaching, there was girl who caught his interest. But she was only a child... Still, his interest was roused. And with every year that passed, his suspicions grew.

Bellatrix Black. Her sisters called her "Bella"... But she couldn't possibly be _his_ Bella. Right? So Tom kept his distance.

She turned seventeen and finished school, and married Rodolphus Lestrange. Tom didn't see her or even hear much about her after that, even though he also taught both of her sisters.

Years later, he saw her again. He saw her, but she didn't see him. Narcissa was with her, and Bellatrix was holding her sister's child in her arms. He saw the way she held the child, saw the expression on her face as she did so, and he was sure. Bellatrix Lestrange _was_ his Bella, after all.

She had no memory of raising him, because when she'd changed his past she'd changed a part of her own as well - the part where she'd fallen in love with his adult self. In their current reality they only barely knew each other from her years at school, and he'd been careful to keep his distance then and not treat her differently than any other student.

If only he could figure out how to unravel the time spell so that her meddling in the past had never happened, then he would be able to bask in the glow of her love once more...

As he watched, the sisters' husbands joined the group. Lucius lifted Draco from Bella's arms and her expression clouded with a sudden intense longing that she didn't quite understand. Rodolphus slid his arm around his wife's waist and she leaned into his side. Then she said something that changed Tom's mind about unraveling the time spell.

"I want to have a baby."

-end-

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. I had several other endings for this, ranging from slightly crazy to way too complicated... In the end, I decided against the endings where he actually DOES unravel the time spell, and also decided against having Dumbledore actually explain about the time spell and Tom being the Dark Lord in the erased future.**

**In case you were wondering, all the chapter titles are song titles from the anime Gravitation.**

**Reviews are love.**


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